All that is Lost
by Nantalith
Summary: Where there is one problem, there are many. Crossover with VIII and X.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything nor do I make any money from this story. All rights apply.

Crossover between FFVII, FFVIII and FFX. I'm going to assume that if you are reading this story you know what the characters look like and have played the games or know the stories. Set days after FFVII AC, forgetting FFVII DC. I have taken some liberties with stories and settings.

**ALL THAT IS LOST**

ONE

Squall had lost track of time. The endless wasteland that spread before him had remained unchanged for so long. He was tired and thirsty but continued to walk forward in the waste. His rational mind told him that he would end up somewhere; he just had to get there. After an unknown amount of time he spotted something in the far distance, he couldn't make out what it was but it was there. Having a destination he managed to pick up his pace and made his way toward the blur on the horizon.

XXX

Tidus swam lazily toward the surface, he could see sunlight playing on the water above him. Breaking the surface he did not find himself on the beach as he had anticipated instead he found himself in a church. A very abandoned church, the roof had collapsed in some places and flowers had taken over most of the floor. What furniture remained was broken and tossed about in a haphazard way. His feet also touched the bottom of the pool he had been swimming in. He stood for a while swirling his hand in the quiet water before turning to leave the pool and find out where he was. He stopped, however, when he saw a young man watching him. He had blond spiked hair and violent blue eyes, he was studying Tidus with open hostility. Tidus lifted his hands in a non threatening way,

"Could you tell me where I am?" he asked with a friendly smile.

The man said nothing but slowly got to his feet; he moved in a way that reminded Tidus of Auron.

"Where did you come from?" he asked. He eyes darting around the pool before resting on Tidus.

Where did he come from? Tidus wasn't sure he knew. As far as he knew he had never existed so where had he come from? Was this where all the Fayth had gone? Or rather where they had been as they slept? Was he even in Spira?

"I'm not entirely sure," answered Tidus going for truth.

"Have you come from the lifestream?" asked the man.

"Lifestream?" asked Tidus not familiar with the term.

After studying Tidus for a few minutes he reached forward and offered his hand.

"My name is Cloud," he said.

"Tidus."

Tidus truly hadn't expected Cloud to be so strong. He thought the hand offering was a token gesture but he actually pulled Tidus out the water.

"You are in the abandoned city of Midgar," said Cloud as he started out the church. He didn't think anyone hostile would appear in that pool and judging from the newcomer's appearance and attitude, he wasn't a threat of any kind but he would keep an eye on him.

Tidus had been about to ask why the city was abandoned but stopped once he saw what lay outside. It reminded him of Kilika after Sin had passed through and he wondered what could have done so much destruction.

"Hey," called Cloud as he sat on his bike. He saw, briefly, great sadness in Tidus' eyes as he looked about Midgar but it disappeared as soon as he came back to the present.

"Get on," said Cloud indicating that Tidus should climb up behind him.

"Is that from the Al Bhed?" asked Tidus studying the bike.

"The what?" asked Cloud not sure he had hear correctly.

"Al Bhed, you know, the machina people," said Tidus.

"No," said Cloud answering all Tidus said, "just get on."

Tidus hung his head – so like Auron. But climbed up anyway.

XXX

Squall had made his way to the center of the abandoned city. He could see why no one lived there; it looked like a bomb had gone off close to the city borders and the rest of the city had fallen into ruin. Squall guessed that it had happened a few years ago judging by the plant growth. There was one section, however, that looked like it had been recently torn apart. From it position and size he guessed it to be a government building. He was no longer in the wasteland but he wasn't sure if he was better off.

He found what looked like the remains of a shop though he didn't recognise any of the brands but he did find a newspaper – Midgar News. It was mostly about a company called ShinRa and mako, there was also mention about Turks but as to what they were - nothing. Squall dropped the paper and headed out again. Looking up and down the road, he made up his mind. Find a road that leads out and follow it to the next town. But as he went he found that the rumble slowly turned into homes and then houses, shops and businesses. Many of the people moving around didn't even give him a second glance – if they looked his way at all. There were quiet a few trucks around; rubble filled some while others had building supplies. If he had to guess, these were probably the previous inhabitants of the city he had just made his way through. He was about to ask where he could find a place to stay and a way to back to the Balamb Garden when people started running and screaming. Immediately he started toward the source of the commotion, looking for a weapon as he went.

XXX

Usually Rude drives but today Reno was driving, this meant lots of swearing was happening – from everyone. Reno wasn't a bad driver as such he just didn't always look where he was going. This time almost hitting people hadn't been his fault – they had run out of a side street and into, sometimes over, the car. It didn't help that he stopped, forcing still more to stream along the side of the car in their rush.

"What is going?" demanded Reno as he fought to get his door open and out the car.

Once out, he managed to grab someone but all he got was the word 'monster'. He turned to Rude, who shrugged. After recent events, Reno's mind jumped to some particular people and their 'pets'. His mind also jumped to Cloud and some how this was his fault. If someone wasn't blaming him, then it was Cloud's fault. It was a reasoning that worked well for Reno.

Reno and Rude fought their way to where the people were running from, the road was soon clear and they continued in silence. Carefully rounding the corner, they found… nothing. The intersection was clear of people, cars and monsters.

"Damn," said Reno, "it heard we were coming."

Even though his tone was light, his eyes didn't stop scanning the area, looking for anything out of place. There were signs of people leaving in a hurry but he knew that much already, but as to what they had been running from there was nothing. The roof tops showed nothing either.

Reno rested his electromag on his shoulder and he moved around kicking bits of debris over and generally taking note of the area. The people had been scared so something had been there. If it had been one or two people he wouldn't have bothered but the street had emptied – quickly.

A hot breeze blew across the side of his face and neck but stopped just as suddenly as it started. Reno stood still, it happened again. And again.

"Rude," called Reno looking around for his partner.

Rude looked across at Reno and froze. Behind the Turk a creature was revealing itself in a kaleidoscope of moving colours. It was lizard like in its immediate appearance but its back and legs were covered in hard scales and horns that looked as if they had been forged from steel, it had long sharp talons of the same material. The head was not covered with the armour nor were the neck and underbelly. Its tail worried Rude the most, it had a hammer like end that it waved about effortlessly.

Reno saw the look on Rude's face and guessed right. Rude slowly reached for his gun; Reno kept very still as Rude aimed for the creature behind Reno and fired. The creature reared in pain and anger as Rude's bullet hit it in the base of its neck. Reno dived out of the way as the tail came crashing to the ground. As Reno got to his feet he hit the creature with a full change of electricity. The effect was fantastic as electricity arced between the horns along its back as the creature reared in pain. It slashed out blindly but Reno managed to dodge easily. Rude aimed for the neck again and fired causing a repeat performance. The Hammertail, as Rude dubbed it, came charging toward the source of pain only to change direction as Reno discharged his electromag into its side. The Hammertail reared and turned, it started to leave the immediate area. Both Turks knew they had to keep it contained to prevent further damage; there would be explaining, there would be paperwork. Rude fired again but the bullet was ineffective against the creature's steel hind. It was only on the third shot that it turned its attention back to the Turks but made no move to attack, it appeared to be unsure of its next action.

Reno glanced at Rude. Neither wanted to resume the fight against the creature but at the same time they couldn't just let it be. The Hammertail solved the problem by attacking in an all out blind frenzy. Reno and Rude moved around the Hammertail alternatively attacking and defending. There was the distinctive sound of an empty gun as Reno ducked under slashing claws and rolled towards Rude.

"How much longer do you think it will last?" panted Reno.

Rude studied the Hammertail, it was bleeding from two gunshot wounds and had had two full charges from the electromag. Ordinarily, things would have been down by now. Unlike the Turks, it showed no sigh of letting up. Reno kept it busy while Rude reloaded his gun but momentary distracted the Turk didn't see the incoming tail.

XXX

Squall came round the corner at a jog and saw two men fighting a large lizard, it looked like something out the training ground at the academy. As he made his way toward them the creature's tail swept round and caught the one and sent him flying, the redhead attacked while the creature's attention was diverted and electricity laced across it. The creature casually swung out its arm and caught the redhead across the chest and sent him to the ground. Looking around Squall saw a length of steel pipe, the end was cut off at an angle that allowed for a passable weapon. Picking it up Squall ran into the fray.

XXX

Reno landed heavily but managed to roll out the way of the slashing tail but it meant he rolled into the path of the racking claws, all the creature's attention was now focused on him. With nowhere to move to, he shut his eyes and waited for the pain which didn't come, only the sound of metal against metal. Opening his eyes he saw someone standing over him with a steel pipe, he was dress in black pants and white t-shirt along with a light grey fur collared jacket. The man was pulling the steel pipe back from its sound landing on the creature's claws that had driven them into the ground. The creature leapt back, pulling itself free and howling in rage. Reno scrambled to his feet and was surprised to see that the man who helped was younger than himself – a teenager! He'd been saved by a child; he was annoyed but couldn't disregard the fact that he had saved his life.

Introductions would have to wait as the creature charged again. Reno glanced to where his electromag lay, it was too far away for him to quickly grab. If he went for it, he would have to leave the newcomer to face the creature alone. Reno hadn't counted on Squall having a plan of his own and was surprised when he felt himself being grabbed and pulled to the ground.

"What the hell…" he started but lost his train of thought when he saw Squall was down with him. And the creature was bearing down on them. Reno swore and tried to get away but was being held in place. The creature roared again and Reno felt its hot breath rushing across his face. The little shit was actually trying to get them killed thought Reno as hot liquid fell all over him and the metallic smell of blood filled his nostrils. Reno waited for, yet again, for the pain which didn't come. He, unfortunately, gave a start when he did open his eyes for the creature's jaws were hanging over him. As the creature had dived for them, Squall had planted the pipe in the ground and used the weight of the creature's attack to drive the pipe though its mouth and into its brain. Killing it before it could land the attack.

Reno jumped to his feet ready to give the kid a mouth full when he heard the distinctive sound of Cloud's bike. Turning toward the sound he saw the man in question coming to a stop staring at the impaled creature, there was another young man on the bike with him. Reno couldn't help staring at him, he wore brightly coloured clothing and had a even tan. He also didn't appear to be practically hung up about the fact that everyone was staring at him either.

Cloud made is way over to the dead creature, he frown slightly when he noticed Squall but said nothing.

"Look familiar?" asked Reno.

Cloud shook his head.

"Where did it come from?" he asked.

"No idea – literally appeared out of nowhere," said Reno.

Cloud gave Reno a look.

"It's true," said Reno trying to straighten his soaked shirt. "I was talking to Rude and next thing it was behind me. I think it was invisible because I felt its breath on my neck."

"Invisible?" questioned Cloud looking suspect. "Where is Rude?"

"He'll tell you the same thing," said Reno as he turned and started making his way towards the spot where Rude had landed.

With Reno out of earshot Cloud looked at Squall who scowled back.

"Can I guess you are not from around here either?" he asked.

Squall's frown deepened.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"You may fit in slightly better than him," said Cloud pointing at Tidus who was checking out the dead creature, "but you still stick out. I'm Cloud, what is your name?"

Squall looked slightly disbelieving and said,

"Squall."

Cloud wondered for a moment is Squall was making a joke about his name.

"All we need is Rain and we'd have a Storm," said Reno as he came up behind Cloud, a slightly dazed looking Rude in tow. "Your name's not Rain is it?" he asked Tidus.

"No," said Tidus.

"It's Tidus," answered Cloud.

"Do you have a lot of fiends?" asked Tidus pointing at the dead creature.

Every one turned to look at Tidus.

"You know what this it?" asked Reno.

"It looks like a fiend," said Tidus with a shrug.

"A fiend," said Reno. "What is a fiend?"

"When someone dies they are sent to the farplane to rest. The unsent spirits become hateful of the living and turn into fiends and prey on the living," explained Tidus thinking he did a good impersonation of Lulu.

"You seem to know a lot about them," said Reno suspiciously. "This thing appears and suddenly you come along knowing all about it."

"I don't know what it is," corrected Tidus. "I said it looks like a fiend."

"Let's call it a fiend for now," said Cloud; he looked at Reno, "you said it was invisible?"

Reno nodded, Rude followed suit when Cloud glanced at him for confirmation.

"How did you know it was here?" asked Cloud.

"We were driving back to … driving and suddenly people were running across the road in a panic. We went to the source of the panic and found an empty street. While we were looking around it suddenly appeared and attacked," said Reno.

"And you helped Reno kill it?" Cloud asked Squall. He hadn't missed Reno's hesitation.

"Yeah, by almost getting us killed," said Reno remembering his earlier intentions.

"Whatever," said Squall.

What Reno was going to say was cut off by his phone ringing, he answered without looking,

"What? Sorry sir." Pause. "Yes, we'll be there shortly," he said before hanging up.

Rude raised an eyebrow and Reno nodded.

"Time to go," said Reno by way of explanation.

"Where are you going?" asked Cloud. "What about this fiend?"

"It's dead," said Reno ignoring Cloud's first question.

Cloud watched Reno and Rude leave clearly not happy. He looked back at the fiend then as Squall and Tidus. Not knowing what else to do he decided to take them to Seventh Heaven, Marlene and Denzel were currently with Barret so there were spare beds. He couldn't take them both on the bike so they were going to walk – he would fetch the bike later. But first things first, he turned to Squall.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

"Balamb Garden. I'm with SeeD," said Squall hoping to sort things out quickly.

Cloud had never heard of the place or the organisation. He turned to Tidus.

"It's complicated but you could say I'm from Zanarkand and I'm a Blitz Ball player," said Tidus.

From Squall's frown, he was as clueless as Cloud.

"Okay," he said. "This is Edge and that -" pointing "- is Midgar."

Tidus didn't looked particularly worried over being in a place that he hadn't heard about. But then again his first encounter with Cloud had been to ask where he was

"What is ShinRa?" asked Squall.

"They used to run Midgar until two years ago," said Cloud currently going for the simplest explanations. "They are still around though not as big as they were."

"And Turks?" asked Squall.

"How do you know all this?" interrupted Tidus.

"I found a newspaper in Midgar," said Squall annoyed at the interruption.

"Turks work for ShinRa," said Cloud. "Those two guys in suits earlier – they were Turks."

"What happened two years ago?" asked Tidus.

"Someone tried to destroy the… Midgar and some other cities," finished Cloud. It sounded too ludicrous to say someone tried to destroy the world.

"Was it someone from ShinRa?" asked Tidus.

"Yes." It was easier. Cloud also added that there were very few people who liked ShinRa, Turks or SOLDIER so it was best to avoid conversation about them. If they had any questions they should ask him and not tell anyone that they were not from this world.

"Just say you are not from Midgar and leave it at that," said Cloud.

"What is SOLDIER?" asked Squall.

"Part of ShinRa," said Cloud. "Anything else before we go?"

"One last thing," said Tidus after a moment.

Cloud nodded.

"Why do your eyes glow?" asked Tidus.

Squall looked up as well, he had obviously noticed but chose not to say anything.

"It's complicated," said Cloud.

"You are not going to die are you?" asked Tidus looking worried.

"What? No," said Cloud frowning.

"That's fine then," said Tidus with a grin.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own anything nor do I make any money from this story. All rights apply.

Crossover between FFVII, FFVIII and FFX. I'm going to assume that if you are reading this story you know what the characters look like and have played the games or know the stories. Set days after FFVII AC, forgetting FFVII DC. I have taken some liberties with stories and settings.

**ALL THAT IS LOST**

TWO

Tidus pulled the chair out from under the table, swept the floor and put them all back before moving to the next table. Surely there was a quicker way of sweeping the floor, he would ask Tifa when she returned. It was Squall's fault really, offering _both_ their services in return for letting them stay upstairs. The culprit was fetching water at the moment, the water was off again. According to Tifa the main water ways were being destroyed by someone. Not only was it annoying but time and money were being diverted from other projects to fix them every time they were broken. It was causing major flooding in some part of the abandoned city, Midgar. Luckily Edge missed the flooding but then they had no water at all.

Tifa had accepted their vague information without comment but clearly didn't believe them. Since they had no money and there were free beds upstairs she had offered them a place to stay – that was when Squall had decided to speak. She and Cloud had left to speak to someone called Reeves about... was it the water, they had mentioned something about the fiends and ShinRa.

Tidus looked up when the door opened, he expected Squall but it was someone else.

"Sorry, we're not open yet," he said cheerfully.

"We're not here for a drink," said the man.

"We?" frowned Tidus seeing only one man.

Suddenly a hand fell heavily on his shoulder, looking back he saw a guy a little bigger than Rude and just as muscle bond.

"You shouldn't leave the back open," he said, his voice deep and threatening. "You never know who will come in."

Tidus gave a nervous smile,

"A friend of mine is coming back. Now, any moment," said Tidus, hoping like hell Squall walked through the door right then. These guys were here for trouble and he only had a broom.

"Hey, hey," said the first guy reassuringly. "We're only come for our delivery."

"Delivery?" asked Tidus very aware that the muscle machine had yet to lift his hand.

"You had to pick up a parcel for Nigiri and deliver it but you failed to do so. Now Nigiri has no parcel that he paid for so he sent me," said the first guy.

"Oh, er, I think you are confusing me with someone else," said Tidus.

"Possibly," said the man. "Is this Seventh Heaven Bar?"

Tidus nodded.

"And are you a blond young man?"

Tidus nodded but quickly added,

"Another blond guy lives here."

"Where is he?"

"He's not here right now," said Tidus looking for a way to get out the situation.

"How unfortunate," said the man calmly. "But right now you are the only blond young man in the Seventh Haven Bar."

Tidus suddenly dropped to the floor and swung the broom round in hopes of catching the muscle machine. He was hoping speed was on his side and it would have been if the muscle machine had not anticipated something. As it was he used his falling weight to drive Tidus face first into the floor. For a moment Tidus couldn't think for pain and the bright flashing lights as he was hauled upright only to land flat on his back atop a table. His sudden inability to breath had nothing to do with the blood that filled his nose and throat as a massive hand tried to strangle him. He was furious with his own feeble attempts to save himself but the longer the guy held on the weaker his attempts became.

Just as quickly as he couldn't breathe he could again, he felt himself slide off the table to land on a wet floor. He opened his eyes to see that Squall had landed the bucket on water on his attacker's head; he was currently following up with a chair. As he watched Squall dodge something Tidus couldn't see but the resounding crack told him it was a gunshot. While it missed Squall it hit the muscle machine in the upper arm. Tidus followed Squall gaze and saw the first guy coming down the stairs he had some machina in his hand that Tidus assumed to be a gun of some kind. There was a crash and by the time Tidus managed to focus on the broken table both men had left the building through the back. At first Tidus couldn't see Squall until he realised the crash was Squall landing on the table; he lay still among the wreckage. He looked like he was sleeping. Man, thought Tidus as he drifted off into darkness, I could use some sleep.

Squall lay blinking rapidly in an effort to clear his vision. He had never been bodily picked up and thrown. He had seen his fair share of hurts but going through a table top was new. He sat up slowly, head throbbing and body aching. The bar was a mess; tables and chairs were scattered around as well as debris from the mess Squall lay in. Bloody water ran across the floor and was pooling around Tidus as he sat slumped against a table leg. His chest and jacket were splashed with blood. Squall couldn't see where it was coming from; he only hoped it wasn't from his slit throat.

Regretfully Tidus didn't stay in the quiet dark long before someone was calling him and shaking him gently, he opened his eyes to see Squall peering at him. Blood ran down the side of his face and along his neck, soaking into his shirt. Tidus didn't want to know what he looked like. His head was throbbing as Squall helped him to his feet and settled him on a bar stool. Squall went round to the other side of the bar looking for a first-aid kit but there wasn't one.

"I'm going upstairs to look for a first-aid kit," said Squall as he headed for the stairs. Tidus didn't reply and Squall didn't wait for an answer. Squall had been relieved to see that Tidus was alive; the guy was talkative and active as Zell but to be killed was just wrong. He found a first-aid box in Cloud's office as well as a picture of Cloud and Tifa with two children. He hadn't seen them around nor had they mentioned them but the fact that they had so many beds made sense. Squall wondered where they were or if they had died in the fight Cloud had spoken about earlier. He also wondered where their parents were for he doubted they belonged to Cloud and Tifa. He was shaken out of his thought with noise coming up the stairwell, turning quickly he hurried down only to find Tifa and Cloud had returned. The sudden movement left him light head but he shook it off and handed the kit to Tifa who was checking over Tidus.

"What happened?" asked Cloud.

Squall shrugged,

"I came back from fetching some water and some guy was trying to kill Tidus," he said.

"What!" exclaimed Cloud. "Why?"

Again Squall shrugged, he unconsciously turned away in hopes that Cloud would stop questioning him.

"They wanted something," mumbled Tidus as Tifa wiped his face.

"What did they want?" asked Cloud.

"A parcel. There was something about a man called Nigiri – ow," moaned Tidus.

"Sorry," said Tifa. "Well, your nose is not broken but will be sore for a few days."

"Nigiri?" said Cloud.

"He said you have a package that you were supposed to give to Nigiri," said Tidus, "but you didn't."

Cloud thought for a second.

"I don't have any deliveries for a Nigiri," he said.

He looked across at Tifa,

"Name is not familiar," she said.

"I'm going to find out about this Nigiri guy and this package," said Cloud.

As Cloud stepped out the bar Reno and Rude were getting out their car.

"Ah," said Reno seeing Cloud. "The errant errand boy."

"I'm busy," said Cloud and made to pass them but Reno's question stopped him.

"Do you know a man called Nigiri?"

Cloud turned to the Turk.

"Who is he?" he asked.

"Here I was hoping you would tell me," said Reno. "I've been hearing this name for months and suddenly I hear that you were supposed to deliver a package to Nigiri."

"I've heard that too," said Cloud. "I don't who Nigiri is or what package I was supposed to give him."

Reno swore and leaned against the car, he looked across at Rude before turning back to Cloud.

"Are you going to look for him?" he asked.

"Why do you want him?" countered Cloud.

"The package apparently has some stuff – valuable stuff in it," said Reno.

"And you want it," said Cloud.

Reno gave a tight smile,

"It belongs to ShinRa."

"What is it?" asked Cloud.

"My job is to collect," said Reno, "information, packages, people..."

"They wouldn't tell you," concluded Cloud.

"Contrary to popular belief I hold a wealth of ShinRa information," said Reno.

"Why are you here?" asked Cloud.

Again Reno and Rude shared a look.

"Nigiri is looking for you, we hang around you, we find Nigiri and get our stuff back," said Reno.

"I thought Nigiri was supposed to get the package, not have it delivered," said Cloud.

"True, but he will know who was supposed to send it to him," explained Reno.

"So you are going to follow me?" asked Cloud.

"Basically," said Reno. "Leads are scarce. No one knows what's in the package."

"Including ShinRa," guessed Cloud.

Reno let out a sigh that confirmed Cloud's suspicions. Cloud frowned, not only did he have two strangers to deal with but they had been attacked by someone looking for him and now the Turks were involved. If ShinRa was involved it was bigger than he first thought. Did ShinRa have anything to do with Tidus and Squall? As far as Cloud knew neither Tidus nor Squall had spoken to anyone other than himself about their sudden appearances. He realised that while he had been thinking Reno had been watching him.

"What?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Waiting on you," said Reno innocently.

XXX

Rude trailed slightly behind Reno and Cloud as they made their way through the rougher parts of town. He wasn't looking out for possible attacks, people knew who the Turks were and Cloud had a sword that was most likely his weight in steel. He was looking to see who saw them and went to tell someone else. Hopefully that someone would be who they were looking for. The plan was to do a sweep of the area to let everyone know they were there before they started asking questions; Reno had hoped to quicken to the whole thing by making Nigiri come to them, hence the whole walking around bit. After cruising the streets for an hour Reno crouched down in front of someone sleeping in a doorway. Sleeping wasn't the correct term when Cloud smelt the stale alcohol drifting off him.

"Oi," said Reno poking the man with his electromag.

It took a moment for the man to register the discomfort and peel his eyes open.

"You," he moaned and tried to sink further into the door frame.

"What do you have for me?" asked Reno.

The man looked like he wanted to be elsewhere as he eyes traveled from Reno to Cloud and the sword that hung from his back.

"Things have been slow," he said quickly.

"Not interested in slow, Buck" said Reno, "interested in big."

Buck sighed as he gathered his scattered thoughts.

"Big, big," he muttered. "I know someone is looking for someone."

Reno raised an eyebrow.

"I can't remember the details but Levin was talking about it," added Buck.

"Who is Levin?" asked Reno not knowing the name.

Buck shrugged,

"Dunno; was all talk last night at the Rough Edge, buying drinks and stuff. He said that there was big changes happening but wouldn't say what."

Reno straightened and looked around. He knew of the Rough Edge, it was a bar on the outskirts of Edge almost in Midgar proper. Lesser life forms were known to frequent it along with their troubles. He didn't relish the idea of going to the Rough Edge but if that was where the trail was pointing, he would follow.

"He did say one funny thing," added Buck as Reno turned to leave. "Something about the weather getting in the way."

Reno glanced at Rude; they both looked at Cloud who frowned.

"Did he elaborate?" asked Reno.

Buck shook his head,

"No," he said. "The other guy was confused as well."

"What other guy?" asked Reno.

"Levin was talking to a guy but then he left suddenly after he got a phone call," said Buck.

"The other guy left?" asked Reno. When Buck nodded, he asked what the other guy looked like.

Buck was quiet for a bit.

"Can't remember but his bodyguard was huge," he said.

Cloud stepped forward and gave Tidus' brief description of the guy that attacked him.

Buck nodded slowly,

"Sounds about right," he said.

After getting a vague description of Levin, the three of them started toward the Rough Edge. Rude glanced back to see Buck stagger to his feet while fishing in his pocket, he hauled out a squashed box of cigarettes and started patting himself down for a light. Obviously not finding one, he set about asking the people around him. Rude turned his attention to the conversation Cloud and Reno were having.

"He seemed to be scared of you," Cloud was saying.

"I don't know," shrugged Reno, "seemed more scared of you." His eyes moving to Cloud's sword. "Putting all that aside, this Levin guy knows you and you seem to know the guy he was talking to. Or at least his bodyguard."

"I don't know them, I got his description from Tidus," corrected Cloud.

"Tidus? Oh, that kid," said Reno. Suddenly he looked at Cloud's head. "That kid is blond as well."

"They came looking for me and the package," said Cloud. "They weren't friendly."

"We need to find out who was supposed to contact you to deliver the package to Nigiri. He might still have it," reasoned Reno.

They carried on in silence for a while. They were nearing the Rough Edge when a man fitting Levin's description stepped out in front of them. He glanced their way and was about continue when he spun back,

"You," he snarled looking at Cloud.

"Levin?" asked Reno.

Levin swore when he saw the Turks; turned tail and fled down the street. Reno was after him before Cloud could blink and Rude passed him just as he started to run. They were obviously more seasoned in their people chasing than Cloud and better equipped for running. He managed to catch and keep up with Rude; Reno and Levin were about a block ahead. They ran for a few minutes before Levin ducked into a small side road and began twisting and turning his way through the back allies. It didn't take long to loose Levin and Reno, Rude stopped and pulled his phone free.

"Where are you?" he asked when Reno answered.

_Running along back alley four. Turn left._

Rude kept his phone on as he set off, Reno giving him a running commentary on where they were going.

_Right. Second left. Straight._

Cloud ran blindly after Rude. Occasionally Rude would double check a route but otherwise he was heading in the right direction; they had obviously done this before.

"Reno," Rude suddenly shouted into the phone, "oi, Reno."

They rounded the corner to see Reno flat out on his back, a piece of blooded wood lay discarded nearby. There was blood on Reno shirt front and he breathing was shallow and quick.

"Reno," called Rude as he knelt next to his partner.

Reno raised a trembling hand to signal that he was alive but didn't open his eyes. Rude pulled his shirt open to see a massive bruise forming across Reno's chest, judging by the extent of the bruising there were defiantly cracked, if not broken ribs.

"You're going to live," said Rude.

Reno gave a smile that was more a grimace and concentrated on breathing without moving his chest as Rude dialed another number on his phone. Cloud had been looking around while Rude saw to Reno; there were hundreds of places that Levin could have gone. There was wood debris at the end of the one alley that matched the wood near Reno, some one had helped Levin – there hadn't been enough time for Levin to run the length of the alley and back and still surprise Reno. Cloud wasn't fond of the Turk but he was quick on his feet; Levin had had help. He went back to tell Rude about his finding, as he finished Reno gave a thumbs up.

"There was another person?" asked Rude.

Thumbs up.

"And he hit you," muttered Cloud, thinking.

Another thumbs up.

"Did you see him?" asked Cloud.

Reno slowly shook his head, his breathing had calmed a bit and he didn't look so deathly.

"I'm going on to the Rough Edge," said Cloud.

Rude nodded.

"I'll wait here till Elena comes to pick up Reno," he said. "If they don't take too long, I'll join you."

Cloud was about to say there was no need but nodded instead. If Rude was there he wouldn't have to get hold of them if he found anything. Something grabbed hold of the leg of his pants, he looked down to see Reno looking at him.

"If I find the package, I'll send it your way," said Cloud and Reno let his hand drop. Cloud was beginning to think there was more to this package than Reno had originally let on. Maybe ShinRa didn't know exactly what was in it but they had a damn good idea.

"Go straight until you reach the beginning of Midgar and go left," said Rude. "The Rough Edge is about twenty minutes away."

Cloud nodded his thanks and set off. He was forced to ask direction after half an hour of searching, the Rough Edge was deeper into Midgar than he thought. The place was tucked under some remaining plate that hadn't fallen or been pulled down, the building was sturdy and had recently had its roof replaced with what ever had been lying around at the time. The whole area smelt of old alcohol, stale smoke and sweat. Week old garbage was piled against the one side, there was someone sleeping amongst the bags or rather Cloud hoped he was sleeping.

Definitely explained Reno's reluctance to venture this far. It did, however, mean all nature of things unsavory went unnoticed. Cloud was aware of the people staring at him but none ventured close, here it wasn't the size of his sword that put them off, there were guys here that could wield it with enough training, it was the slight glow of his mako blue eyes in the gloom. As Cloud opened the door to the Rough Edge, he stepped back in surprise as Vincent appeared to be leaving. They looked at each other for a second both trying to figure out why the other was there. Cloud spoke first,

"I'm looking for some people," he said.

"Who?" asked Vincent stepping so they were not blocking the entrance.

"Two people – Levin or Nigiri," said Cloud.

"I know Nigiri," said Vincent. "Who is Levin?"

"I don't know either of them but they seem to know me," said Cloud.

Vincent appeared to have figured something out.

"The weather," he said with a bemused smile.

Cloud hid his irritation at being referred to as 'the weather'.

"I think that is what Levin calls me," said Cloud.

"I overheard a conversation between Nigiri and one of his employees, Feint," said Vincent as they worked their way back into Edge. "Apparently Nigiri was supposed to receive a package from 'the blond young man who works from the Seventh Haven Bar' but it didn't arrive. It has something valuable in it."

"It belongs to ShinRa," said Cloud. "Reno and Rude are looking for it, they claim not to know what is in it but I think they have a very good idea of what it could be."

"ShinRa," said Vincent thoughtfully. "Someone has recently been to the old ShinRa building in Midgar. Some creatures have appeared lately -" Cloud nodded to show he knew about them. "- some of which were familiar to me so I went to investigate."

"You think the package and the creatures are connected?" asked Cloud.

"Yes," said Vincent. "Whoever found the package let loose the creature; I don't knew yet whether it was intentional or not."

"How does that involve me?" asked Cloud.

"Who ever was supposed to pass the package on to Nigiri decided to keep it and put the blame on you," surmised Vincent.

"Did Nigiri say who had, or more likely, has the package?" asked Cloud.

"No, Nigiri only said that he says he gave it to the delivery man. Your name was not mentioned," said Vincent. "But I think this Levin works for Feint because Feint was telling Nigiri how his contact was going on about the weather getting in his way."

"Levin is Feint's contact," said Cloud. "Feint and Nigiri don't know my name so didn't make the connection between 'Cloud' and 'weather'."

Vincent nodded.

Cloud rubbed the back of head irritably, thinking hard.

"You say Nigiri is a business man of sorts, so he has lots of money. Whoever found the package might have been going to sell it to Nigiri but found out what was in it and changed his mind."

"Knowledge from ShinRa means power," added Cloud. "Nigiri would be angry at not getting what he had paid for or been promised."

"Correct," said Vincent. "I think whoever has the package is causing all the problems with the water, keeping people's attention else where while they work in the background."

"If he was clever enough to do that," said Cloud, "he would have checked the package before offering it out."

"Unless he did give it to a delivery man, it was just not you," said Vincent.

"Did Nigiri order them to look at the old ShinRa building or did they come across it themselves?" wondered Cloud.

"I think they just come across it," said Vincent.

"Agreed," said Cloud. "Nigiri would have sent his own men after it had he known."

They had unconsciously making their way back to the Seventh Haven, which reminded Cloud - not that he had really forgotten.

"I have something to add to this problem," he said. "There are two guys staying at the bar that… are not from around here."

"Where are they from?" asked Vincent.

"Balamb and Zanarkand," answered Cloud.

Vincent thought about the names for a moment before shaking his head.

"One is a SeeD and the other a Blitzball player," added Cloud.

"Seed?" asked Vincent.

"Mercenary of some kind," said Cloud. "They have no idea where they are or how they got here. The one, Tidus, appears to have some knowledge about these creatures. He calls them fiends and says they are the unsent spirits of the dead who have come to hate the living," said Cloud.

Vincent didn't seem convinced by that theory, he sure they were something ShinRa had come up with and tried to hide. He knew what Hojo was capable of.

"What does the other one say?" asked Vincent.

"Nothing. Doesn't offer any opinions on anything," said Cloud.

Cloud suddenly stopped.

"What?" asked Vincent.

"His name is Squall," said Cloud.

"A squall is more a weather phenomenon than a cloud," said Vincent. "Levin might have been referring to him."

Cloud didn't say anything, he was thinking. He knew where Tidus had appeared, knew that he had spoken to no one other than himself. He also knew that while Squall and Tidus had been staying with them no one had spoken to them other than Feint and his bodyguard and that hadn't been an exchange of information. He didn't know where Squall had appeared nor if he had spoken to anyone when he arrived. The little he knew of Squall, Cloud doubted he would have volunteered the information unless someone saw him appear. Cloud unthinkingly opened the door to the bar and stepped in before Vincent, he saw that Tifa had cleaned up the place and was washing glasses behind the counter while Tidus slowly dried them.

"Where is Squall?" asked Cloud.

"He went to fetch a food delivery for me," said Tifa as she looked up. She greeted Vincent with a smile. "Is there a problem?"

"I don't know," said Cloud truthfully.

"He should be back soon," said Tifa.

Cloud perched himself at the end of the bar, thinking while Vincent made himself comfortable to wait for Squall's return.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own anything nor do I make any money from this story. All rights apply.

Crossover between FFVII, FFVIII and FFX. I'm going to assume that if you are reading this story you know what the characters look like and have played the games or know the stories. Set days after FFVII AC, forgetting FFVII DC. I have taken some liberties with stories and settings.

**ALL THAT IS LOST**

THREE

Squall walked into the little shop that fronted the main storage area. There was an aggressive looking man behind the counter; he seemed irritated that he had to be there.

"Yes," he snapped looking Squall up and down.

"I'm here to pick up a delivery for Seventh Heaven," said Squall wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Do you work there?" asked the man narrowing his eyes.

Squall nodded, there was no need to fill the man in on the details.

"What's your name?" he asked still eyeing Squall with suspicion.

"Squall."

The man seemed to think for a second before nodding and moving off to where some boxes were stacked. He picked up one marked SH in bright red on all sides and brought it over to the counter. It didn't appear to be that heavy, Squall was sure he could carry it with relative ease. Squall thanked the man, who grunted in reply, and left the shop. He was about half way back to the bar when someone grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms to his sides as something black was put over his head at the same time. Squall instantly dropped the box and rammed his elbow into his assailant's stomach. He heard the man grunt but his grip didn't loosen. Another made a grab for his legs and Squall lashed out and connected with the new assailant but his breath was forced from his lungs as someone punched him in the stomach. In the few seconds it took him to gain some control over his breathing, his legs were swept out from underneath him and he was securely held by at least three people. He was hustled through a door and along some passages before he heard a door open and hissed instructions as he was man-handled into a chair; once secure the blindfold was removed and he was left alone.

Looking round Squall saw he was in a tiled room with a single light hanging from the ceiling; there was a drain in the far corner of the room. It didn't take much for him to figure out what the room was for. He wasn't alone long before a man in his late forties entered the room, he wore a plain dark grey suit and white shirt that was unbuttoned at the neck. He held in his hand a weapon similar to Reno's.

"ShinRa technology," said the man when he saw Squall looking at the weapon in his hands.

"Whatever," muttered Squall.

The man brushed off Squall's indifference and said,

"My name is Nigiri and you have something that belongs to me."

Squall almost groaned out loud. So this was the man that was causing all the problems. He looked like the average businessman or lawyer. Slightly balding and nothing much in the way of grey, though his body did show some sign of age.

"I'm not who you are looking for-" started Squall but stopped as Nigiri sent a couple of volts through him.

"Where is my package, delivery boy," demanded Nigiri.

"I'm a mercenary, not a delivery boy," said Squall glaring at Nigiri. He turned his attention away from Nigiri and tried to find his GF, Shiva, but all he could do was sense her presents.

"A mercenary," repeated Nigiri. "Who does deliveries?"

"Cloud," said Squall pulling himself back to the present. He was just beyond making contact with Shiva.

"Cloud? Cloud Strife?" asked Nigiri seeming surprised.

Squall didn't answer, he didn't know Cloud's surname.

"Strife delivery service," muttered Nigiri as if he was putting the pieces together. He stepped up to Squall and forced his head back; he stared at Squall's eyes for a moment before letting go. "You are not who I'm looking for."

Nigiri made his way toward the door.

"It will be of little comfort to you," he said, "but I am sorry you got involved in this mess." He nodded to someone Squall couldn't see and left

Squall frowned, he was confused by Nigiri's words until he felt something pressed against the back of his head and heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked. Squall took a deep breath… _Shiva_… He could feel her, just beyond his reach – he needed time to reach her but he didn't think he had any.

There was a polite knocking on the door. Squall felt the gunman falter. Knocking again. The gun was removed and shortly there was the sound of the door being opened. It was followed by a grunt and something heavy falling to the ground.

"Yo," said Reno as he stepped into Squall's field of vision.

XXX

Reno had been sitting in the car waiting for Elena. He had convinced her he needed something to eat right now and had pestered her until she stopped by the store. He was mentally planning the downfall of Levin when he saw Squall walking along the street with a box covered in red lettering. It reminded him that he needed to speak to Rude or Cloud. He guessed that Cloud hadn't found the package as he hadn't received any phone calls. He was idly watching Squall while wondering what was in the box when two guys grabbed Squall and pulled him into the alley. He glanced at the store but couldn't see Elena so he got out the car and crossed the road. He tried to jog but ended up walking as lightly as he could; it was just too painful otherwise. He reached the corner in time to see three guys carrying Squall enter a building, wasting no time following he found the door to be unlocked.

"Silly, silly," he muttered and let himself in.

He had got a little bit lost but he happened across a man in a grey suit leaving a room, flattening himself against the wall as not to be seen, he heard the man apologise to someone. Reno waited for him to leave before knocking on the door. The door opened on the second knock and Reno discharged his electromag into the man with the gun in his hand. Then he looked around and saw Squall. He wasted no time freeing Squall and stepped back to check out the room while Squall got to his feet.

"I've got good timing, right," said Reno with a grin.

"What are you doing here?" asked Squall.

"I told you, timing," said Reno. "But I could ask you the same question."

"They are looking for Cloud," said Squall.

"The package again," muttered Reno as he headed for the door and along the passages, Squall following behind him. He was looking for the man in the grey suit but many of the rooms were abandoned – it looked like only one kind of business happened here. Reno muttered a string of swear words and headed for the exit.

When they stepped outside, Reno saw that Elena hadn't waited for him to return. He guessed she was angry but that was not a problem as he had his phone in his pocket… no, it was on the dashboard of Elena's car. No phone meant no calling Rude to pick him up. He would have to walk back to ShinRa head quarters. On second thoughts, with a glance at Squall, he would head over to Seventh Heaven and speak to Cloud. He knew that Rude was there now speaking to Cloud and he, Reno, hadn't heard what had happened at the Rough Edge, if he was lucky he could make Cloud repeat himself.

"Elena has left with the car so we'll have to walk back," said Reno setting the course.

Squall said nothing but fell into step next to Reno; they walked in silence as any conversation Reno tried to strike up was flattened. They had been walking for ten minutes when Squall suddenly asked,

"Why are there so many children here?"

"Well, two years ago when the shit hit the fan a lot of people died," said Reno not wanting recount his involvement in the whole thing.

"They are orphans," said Squall.

The way Squall said it, Reno got the distinct impression that Squall was an orphan.

"Cloud has two kids living with him," said Reno. "A boy and a girl."

"I saw a picture of them, I wondered…" trailed off Squall as he realising he was talking too much.

Not wanting to lose the sudden conversation that had started Reno began explaining a bit more.

"The girl's name is Marlene and the boy Denzel. I've had some run ins with Marlene's father in the past but I don't know anything about Denzel's parents."

Squall glanced his way with a frown when Reno mentioned 'run ins' but didn't say anything.

The door to a nearby house suddenly opened and a young woman stepped out and looked around, she appeared anxious. Her eyes landed on Reno and lit up. She picked up her pace as she came over. Reno stood waiting with a guarded expression; this was not the usual way people reacted to Turks.

"You're a Turk, aren't you?" she asked.

Reno nodded slowly but she continued before he could speak.

"I need your help," she said, "there is something in my house."

"What sort of something?" asked Reno thinking back to the fiend he and Squall had fought earlier. And of how he didn't want Squall's _help_ again.

"I don't know. It's about the size of a cat and looks a bit like a lizard. It's eating all my food and making a mess of the kitchen," explained the woman.

"Er, Miss-" started Reno reluctantly.

"My name is Ella," said the woman. "You're a Turk, you lot are always armed – you can get rid of it."

"Lead the way," said Reno unable to find an excuse.

The house was neat with sparse furnishings, even as they entered the house there was a crash from inside. Reno stuck his head around the door frame that lead into the kitchen. This fiend was very much cat sized but it looked like a furry lizard. It was currently trying to chew through a corner of the cupboard. Scrapes of food and broken crockery littered the kitchen and most of the table legs were chewed and scratched.

"If one of us distracts it, the other can grab it," said Reno pulling his head back.

"You distract," said Squall as they both stepped into the room. Ella stayed in the doorway watching.

When they were close Reno moved off to one side, he clicked his fingers and the fiend turned to look at him. Reno suppressed a shudder as the fiend's eyes had no iris, only a black pupil in the middle of white. Squall leapt forward and grabbed the fiend by its hair and pulled it away from the cupboard. After a moment of shock the fiend twisted itself round Squall's arm in an effort to escape, its back coiling around Squall's arm exposing it belly.

"Holy hell," said Reno surprised. "Spines aren't supposed to bend that way."

There was a ripping sound as the fiend fell to the floor and Squall had a handful of hair. They both dived to catch it and ended up butting heads.

"Agh," yelled Reno in pain and irritation as he pulled free his electromag while Squall managed to corner it.

"You distract it and I'll catch," said Reno handing Squall his electromag. "When I have it, press the red button and hold it down."

The fiend had tried to climb the wall to escape but it was too smooth so it reared back on its hind legs and stood weaving as Reno approached it. Reno made a grab to the left and the fiend dodged right and ran, Reno reached out but just missed. He made a second attempt as Squall reached down and got full voltage in his forearm. It was light's out for a minute then Reno woke to find Squall crouched next to him and no fiend. Ella was busy cleaning up the mess that was her kitchen.

"Are you trying to kill me?" asked Reno glaring at Squall.

Squall said nothing as he stood but handed the electromag back to Reno who put it way.

"Where's the fiend?" asked Reno as he shakily got to his feet. His arm ached and felt tingly.

Squall pointed at the door that lead to the main room,

"It escaped through there and out the window," he said. "By the time I got outside it was gone."

Reno gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Thank you for your help all the same," said Ella. "I would offer you something to drink but I don't have anything left. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," said Reno. "If you see it again please let us know."

Ella nodded and Reno left without checking to see if Squall followed.

"Shit," swore Reno as he stepped out onto the street, Squall followed a moment later. He needed to find that damn package and now sort out where these fiends were coming from. And if he was going to be hunting fiends he would need a better weapon. Something with bullets and firepower. First he needed to get hold of Rude and see what Cloud had to say. After a few seconds of hand shaking and finger flexing he headed off.

"Reno," called Squall after a few minutes.

"Yeah," said Reno tiredly. He wasn't angry with Squall, he was frustrated with the situation.

"I… I'm sorry… I'm sorry I hit you earlier," said Squall uncomfortably.

"Don't worry about it – shit happens," shrugged Reno. "Let's just get back to the bar before anything else comes along."

Reno was pleased when they finally stepped through the doors of Seventh Heaven. Rude was still there along with Cloud and Vincent, he couldn't see Tifa or Tidus anywhere.

Cloud stood when he saw Squall.

"Where have you been?" he asked not particularly kindly. "Tifa and Tidus are looking for you."

"Kidnapped and tortured," answered Reno, "only to be rescued by me."

"Kidnapped?" asked Cloud frowning.

"Elena is furious with you." Rude told Reno.

"They were after you," answered Squall as he walked toward the table.

"She's always angry with me," said Reno as he sat down, nodding a hello to Vincent.

"The package," guessed Cloud looking at Squall.

"What wrong with your arm," asked Rude as Reno clenched his fist.

"They really want it," said Squall.

"Nothing," said Reno. "We came across another fiend but it got away."

"Got away?" interjected Vincent.

"If we knew what was in that package," muttered Cloud.

"Small one, cat size," said Reno waving away Vincent's concern.

"I met Nigiri," said Squall.

Everyone turned their attention to Squall. Cloud got the impression that if social graces didn't apply Squall would have bolted from the bar.

"He was the guy in the grey suit," muttered Reno thinking of his missed opportunity.

Everyone turned to Reno.

"I didn't get to see his face," he added bitterly.

"Did you?" Cloud asked Squall.

Squall nodded and gave a description of the man.

"Nigiri is looking for a package, ShinRa information, that Cloud was supposed to have collected from X," summed up Reno. "Feint works for Nigiri as hire muscle, and Levin appears to work for Feint. Fiends have been showing up all over Edge and there is flooding in Midgar."

"You think they are all related?" asked Cloud recalling his earlier conversation with Vincent.

"Yes," said Reno leaning back in his chair.

"What makes you say that?" asked Cloud.

"Stuff I know and have found out," said Reno evasively.

Rude's phone rang, he moved away from the table to answer it.

"That's not an answer," said Cloud.

"Yes, it is," countered Reno, "it just wasn't the answer you wanted to hear."

Rude came back to the table,

"Tseng is looking for you," he told Reno. "He wants to know why you are not answering your phone."

"Elena has my phone," Reno said as he got to his feet with a stretch. "Later," he added as he and Rude left the bar.

Cloud squashed his annoyance with the redhead and introduced Vincent to Squall instead.

"I've told him about you and Tidus," and seeing Squall's frown deepened, added, "you can trust Vincent."

"Whatever," said Squall after a second.

"Do you know someone by the name Levin?" asked Cloud getting back to the matter at hand.

Squall shook his head.

"How did you get here?" asked Cloud.

"I told you, I don't know," said Squall.

"I meant," rectified Cloud, "how did you find Edge?"

Squall was quiet as he thought back.

"I was walking through a wasteland for a long time then I saw something in the distance and it was Midgar. I carried on till I got to Edge," said Squall.

"You spoke to no one?" asked Cloud.

"I spoke to you," said Squall.

"Before that?"

"No one," said Squall. "When I got to the inhabited part of town there were people running and screaming; I found those Turks fighting that fiend."

"So you don't know Nigiri or Feint either," confirmed Cloud.

"So it is you," said Vincent as Squall shook his head.

"One mystery solved," muttered Cloud.

There was silence for a long while only to be broken with the return of Tifa and Tidus.

"Were you here the whole time?" asked Tidus on seeing Squall.

"Are you both okay?" asked Cloud ignoring Tidus' question as he knew Squall was.

"Yes," said Tifa setting herself up. "What is going on?"

"We have some pieces to the puzzle," said Vincent. And went on to explain what they had.

"How is it that you know so much about Nigiri?" asked Tifa once he was done.

"He has an interest in everything to do with ShinRa," said Vincent. "I've been watching him, he will pay almost anything for information from ShinRa."

"Are you worried he might try to use the information?" asked Tifa.

"I think he will try to use it," corrected Vincent. "There were several secret operations what involve weapon production. Nigiri is not interested in any of ShinRa's experiments; he wants their weapons."

"He wants the control ShinRa once had," said Cloud.

Vincent nodded.

"How does he plan on doing that?" asked Tidus.

"ShinRa not only developed a lot of weapons, they also had plans and theories for some devastating weaponry," said Vincent.

"Once he has those weapons, he will need only a few men to make a big impact," concluded Cloud.

"Ah," said Tidus fully understanding the situation.

"I'm going to go and look around the old ShinRa building, see if there is anything there," said Cloud standing.

"I'll go too," said Tidus jumping to his feet.

Cloud looked at Squall who shrugged but got up. Vincent stood as well but said,

"I have some other tasks at the moment but I'm going to talk to Reeve about the water situation. If it is Nigiri, Reeve will have the resources to follow him."

"I thought the Turks were doing that," said Tifa.

"They are looking for something else," said Cloud. "Nigiri just happens to be someone who might have whatever they are looking for. I'm sure Reno has let Rufus know we are looking for Nigiri."

"Rufus?" asked Tidus.

"Rufus Shinra, president of ShinRa Electric Company," said Cloud.

"So, they've passed Nigiri on to you?" asked Tidus.

"Not willingly, I don't think," said Cloud.

"ShinRa are not what they used to be," explained Tifa seeing Tidus' frown, "they don't have the man power they used but they are by no means powerless. Rufus is obviously prioritising his resources."

"Meaning Nigiri is not what they are after most," said Vincent, "it's the package."


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own anything nor do I make any money from this story. All rights apply.

Crossover between FFVII, FFVIII and FFX. I'm going to assume that if you are reading this story you know what the characters look like and have played the games or know the stories. Set days after FFVII AC, forgetting FFVII DC. I have taken some liberties with stories and settings.

**ALL THAT IS LOST**

FOUR

Squall recognised the ShinRa building from when he first arrived in Midgar. It was obvious that anything worth anything was long gone from the main entrance and foyer. Squall could see the remains of a lift, more accurately the lift shaft. He followed Cloud, who appeared to know where he was going, to a stairwell that lead up. Only the next level was visible so it was possible to go up several floor before they found the way blocked but they wouldn't know unless they tried. There was also the chance that, like the foyer, everything that could be salvaged was already gone. Cloud turned back to say something but changed it to an inquiry.

"Where is Tidus?"

Squall looked round the foyer but saw no sign of Tidus, his hand went to his forehead in irritation. Even as the two of them went back into the foyer they heard Tidus call to them.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Look what I found."

Cloud walked over to where Tidus was climbing out the broken floor and looked down. It was a basement of sorts, he didn't recognise it but if there was anything to be found then that was going to be the place.

"There are all sorts of rooms down there," said Tidus brushing dust off himself. "I think we should go and have a look."

Cloud nodded after a second and Tidus scrambled back down.

"It's easier to get down than it is to get up," called up Tidus as Squall and Cloud followed.

Light filter down from above lighting their way. They were in a wide passage with three doors on each side and one at the end. As with the rest of the building the six rooms that lined the passage were void of just about everything, some had tables and chairs or empty desks and drawers. What paperwork that lay around was basic notes, memo, some reports about SOLDIER but nothing of use.

The door at the end of the passage showed signs of multiple attempts at entry but remained closed. Cloud unslung his sword and took several swings at the door eventually breaking it. After kicking down the remains, Cloud stepped through and stopped. He recognised the tanks that lined the one wall, their eerie glow lighting the room. Tidus walked passed and up to the first one, unable to look away. Most of the creature body was made up of tentacles, its large head had no eyes and the way it was plastered up against the glass made it look as if it tried to flee as what kept it alive disappeared. He moved onto the next one, it was humanoid – it looked like it might have once been a girl. Tidus swallowed and turned away.

"ShinRa Electric Company," said Squall looking at what defiantly not something from an electric company.

"It's just a name," said Cloud lost in memories.

"There is a doorway over there," said Tidus pointing stiffly at it. He wasn't keen to stay in the room where his gaze was drawn to the eerie light.

Cloud shook himself and followed Tidus, Squall briefly wonder at Cloud involvement with ShinRa. It was obvious that Cloud had history with the company and the Turks. He thought back to Tidus' comment about Cloud's eyes and with a glance at the tanks, he followed not wanting to actually know.

The doorway lead to a large flooded room. A metal gangway ran around the room with a set of stairs leading down to the right of the door. This room was a lot darker and not much could be seen. Cloud took off his gear and pulled free a torch. He was loath to leave his gear but did want it to get wet. He saw the other two do the same though Squall kept the gun Vincent had loaned him. Torches on, they descended into the room. The water wasn't very deep, about knee height, meaning the paperwork on the tables was dry and legible.

They spent some time reading though the notes, memos and other random research material but there was nothing about weaponry or even the experiments upstairs. Cloud was beginning to think that the area they were in was used for biological experiments and not weaponry at all. Leaving that area they waded through to the adjacent room. The few steps that lead down raised the water to their waists. As before there was no way to tell what the room had held, debris floated in the almost clear water the gloom made progress slow.

"Hey, look," said Tidus suddenly from behind Squall. "My torch floats."

"They are supposed to be able to float," said Cloud.

"Cool," said Tidus.

They came to another doorway but as Cloud walked through he disappeared from view with a splash. He came up a moment later, gasping for breath.

"Stairs," he said as he got to his feet.

"I'll go ahead," said Tidus.

"I don't know," said Cloud peering into the depths.

"I am the star player of the Zanarkand Abes, I can handle a little water," boasted Tidus.

"I take it that is a team of some kind," said Squall.

"Blitzball," said Tidus.

Squall waited.

"It's a water sport that involving holding your breath for a really long time," explained Tidus.

"I don't think there will be anything down there," confessed Cloud.

"We're here, we're wet," said Tidus with a shrug.

"Just let him go," said Squall.

Tidus didn't wait for Cloud before swimming out with his torch, he ducked and pulled himself deeper using the stairs. Looking round he saw some machinery that he couldn't identify as well as metal tables. What did catch his eye was a cabinet, it had an extra set of locks on it. He swam over to look at it, unlike the other things they had come across, this was still locked. He hauled out some 'tools' Rikku had given him and set about with his limited skills.

"How long is really long?" asked Cloud after some time.

Squall shrugged.

Cloud went for his phone to check the time but remembered it was one level up with the rest of the gear. He ran the light across the surface of the water a couple of times but there was nothing – no movement at all. He was beginning to think something must have happened to Tidus and was irritated with himself for not stopping him as he was also getting cold. The sound of something slipping back under the water sounded from behind them. Both turned to look but the light only showed an expanding ripple. Cloud swung his touch back over the water where Tidus has disappeared but there was nothing still.

"What would be down here?" asked Squall.

Cloud didn't answer, with ShinRa it could be anything.

XXX

The cabinet opened with little difficulty, inside were piles of documents but as Tidus touched them the drifted apart and floated around his fingers. Further down were files but they to broke apart when he tried to pick them up. He would have left expect a decaying file revealed a steel cylinder behind it. Pulling the files out the way, Tidus found a steel box next the cylinder. Both were constructed in the same way and in the bad light he couldn't find anyway of opening them. Not that he would've right then as they appeared to be watertight so whatever was in them would be undamaged. After checking that there was nothing else hidden in the cabinet, Tidus headed back to the others. As he broke the surface both Cloud and Squall turned to face him.

"Where the hell have you been?" demanded Cloud angrily.

"Looking around down there," answered Tidus.

"You've been gone for nearly ten minutes," said Cloud.

"I told you, I can hold my breath for a really long time," said Tidus. "I found something."

He held up the two containers, one in each hand.

"What makes you think these are valuable?" asked Squall. There was similar debris floating all around them.

"These were hidden in a cabinet. There were some papers but they broke apart when I tried to pick them up," said Tidus.

"Did you find anything else?" asked Cloud.

"There is some strange machina and tables but nothing else really. Sorry," he added turning to Squall.

Squall frowned.

"What?" he asked.

"I stood on your foot," said Tidus simply.

"No, you didn't," said Squall.

"I stood on something," said Tidus looking down.

"Let's go," said Cloud and Squall at the same time.

"What?" asked Tidus as the two headed back scanning the water as they went.

"There is something in the water," said Cloud.

Tidus followed also looking but unsure of what he was looking for. He felt the water move behind and turned round, he couldn't see anything but something had disturbed the water, something very comfortable in water.

"Hey guys-" he started to say when something hit him square in the chest and pushed him under the water. He managed to take a breath before being submerged and flattened to the floor. He had dropped his touch as what felt like a large hand held him down, crushing him. He was able to hold his breath for a long time but not if it was being forced from his lungs. Whatever held him in place had to be large as it covered most of his chest and abdomen; he could just reach his knife and pulled it free. He stabbed the thing that held him only to have the pressure on his chest increased, he heard a muffled roar from above. At least he had injured it; now all that remained was to see if he got crushed before he managed to hurt the creature enough to let him go.

Even as Tidus had started to speak, Squall had turned to look back. The fiend before he stood slightly stooped in the room, it was strangely thin with massive webbed hands, its skin was like a frog's. Its head was a little bigger than its body with two large eyes and small nostrils; it appeared to have no mouth or none that Squall could see. Unable to see Tidus, Squall assumed he was underwater and pulled his gun free; aiming he fired two shots into the fiend's chest and stumbled backwards as its chest opened, revealing sharp teeth and reptilian tongue, to roar in pain. Squall looked across at Cloud whom stood staring at the fiend with an unidentifiable expression. His sword was with their gear, a room and level up away.

"Hey," yelled Squall getting Cloud's attention. He threw his gun to him, "keep it distracted."

Cloud nodded, obviously Squall had a plan and seeing as he had no weapon of his own, he would have to do as he was told. Unfortunately his aim was poor but at least the fiend kept its attention on Cloud.

Squall placed his fingertips on his forehead and closed his eyes, he hoped his Shiva would respond. He could sense her there but was unable to connect to her as before; he took a deep breath and tried again.

Cloud meanwhile had run out of bullet, he looked across at Squall only to see him standing with his hand against his head.

"Squall," he yelled.

Suddenly Squall opened his eyes, staring intently at the fiend. Cloud noticed the temperature drop dramatically and he started to shiver. Looking at himself, he saw that his clothes and hair were covered in ice. The fiend's movement slowed and stopped as it was soon covered in a thick layer of ice. Cloud dived into the water looking for Tidus and found him trapped under the fiend's foot which luckily was not frozen. With help from Tidus, Cloud managed to pull him free. Tidus gasped for breath as he surfaced and immediately let it out again with a yell of pain, followed by some swearing.

"Why is it so cold?" he asked shivering.

Cloud looked over a Squall who had his hands on his knees, face centimeters from the water, breathing heavily.

"What is that thing?" asked Tidus.

"Don't know, never seen anything like it," said Cloud. "Are you okay?"

"It hurts to breath," confessed Tidus looking at his chest but seeing no sign of injury. "But it's not that bad."

"Let's get moving – keep an eye out for anything else," said Cloud heading towards the door, picking up a torch as he went. Tidus noticed his torch, or someone's torch, was float against the far wall but decided against retrieving it and went after Cloud.

Cloud stopped next to Squall, "you okay?"

Squall nodded and slowly stood wiping a hand across his face, Cloud caught sight of blood on Squall's hand but said nothing. He and Tidus continued on out Squall followed but he was exhausted. Calling on Shiva had taken more energy than he thought; he head was throbbing with each heartbeat and he felt sick. By the time they made it to the stairs that lead to the specimen room with its eerie light, he felt drained but okay. They gathered up their gear in silence but as they were about to leave the room Reno and Rude stepped through the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" asked Reno looking about.

"There is a rumour that the fiends are coming from this building," said Cloud.

"We heard that too," said Reno. His tone implied that while he knew that it was not the reason they were there.

"What are you doing here?" asked Tidus.

"Checking out some stuff," said Reno as he and Rude started to make their way past them. Rude suddenly stopped and grabbed Reno's arm. Reno looked back and saw that Rude was looking at the silver box that Squall held.

"Where did you find those?" asked Reno looking at the objects Tidus had found.

Cloud told him about the underwater basement that he, Tidus and Squall had investigated.

"This lab was abandoned four, no five," Rude nodded, "five years ago," said Reno.

"Because it flooded?" asked Tidus.

"No," Reno shook his head. "The flooding is from all the resent problems with the water."

"There were lots of files in the cupboard," said Tidus. "Why were they still there if the lab was abandoned?"

"I don't question what goes on in the labs," said Reno offhandedly. "Or at least I didn't. There is nothing happening in the now."

"What about the fiends?" asked Tidus.

"What makes you think they come from the labs?" asked Reno.

"They are right there," said Tidus pointing.

Reno looked over the tanks.

"None of those tanks are broken," he said blandly.

"There could be others," said Tidus.

"Who knows what Hojo did," said Reno attempting to dismiss the current conversation but his eyes strayed to Cloud for a second. They were moving into dangerous ground.

"Anyway, these are back up storage containers," explained Reno changing the subject as he took the cylindrical container from Tidus, "this is for specimens, while the other is for documents." He took the box Squall held and shook it.

It was obvious Reno and Rude wanted to see what was inside the containers but at the same time they didn't want an audience. However, it wasn't going to be easy to shake the trio.

"There are some rooms back this way," said Reno jerking his thumb behind him. "Some have tables."

Reno studied both containers as they found a suitable room. As they sat Reno pointed out tiny marks on each container.

"These two marks are the same so these containers go together – the documents are to do with these specimens," said Reno as he placed his fingers precisely on the container and pressed firmly causing a thin line to appear about three centimeters from the top. He then proceeded to unscrew the top and withdrew a metal frame work that had three test tubes suspending in it. Flakes of dark brown rested in the test tubes; whatever had been in them was gone long ago. There was a faded sticker across the top that had started to peel off, Reno flattened and tried to make out what had been written on it while Rude angled the torch.

"Er, blood samples – alphabetical," he read.

"What's alphabetical?" asked Tidus.

"When things are listed in-" started Reno.

"I know what it means," interrupted Tidus. "I meant what is listed alphabetically."

Reno thought for a second before pulling the square container toward himself.

"The samples are for the documents in here," he said. "So what ever is in here will tell us whose blood it is."

Reno repeated his movements from earlier but instead of twisted off the lip he lifted it off. They all leaned forward to read the name on the top file.

"Isn't that you?" Tidus asked Cloud.

Reno wasn't totally insensitive all the time, only most of the time but even he couldn't ignore what was on the file. After all he had been one of the Turks assigned to retrieving the escaped specimens that had been Zack and Cloud. If Cloud's file was in the box the chances were that Zack's was in there as well. At the time he hadn't given a damn about the two SOLDIERs and only known in passing who they were. It was only when AVALANCHE had become a real problem that he had noted the possible similarities between Cloud and the SOLDIER he chased but then the shit had hit the fan – twice as it were and now this file sat on the table in front of him. The five of them sat still at the table; Tidus and Squall were painfully aware that there was something going on and it was not good but while Tidus looked from person to person waiting for it to be explained, Squall stared at the floor leaving them to sort out their problem.

Reno started to reach from the file and when Cloud didn't stop him, he picked it up. While he was curious to know what it said he passed it on to Cloud who looked at it with a guarded expression for a while before tentatively taking it. He didn't open it but sat staring at the cover without looking at it. Reno had been right, the next file was Zack Fair but it was the file under that which caused him to pause – Sephiroth. Reno could have sworn and maybe he did because Tidus asked who Sephiroth was. Cloud's head shot up at Tidus' question but he made no move to take the file from Reno. Reno glanced at the last file in the box – it was the thickest by far and had classified stamped across it in red. Printed across the top was Nibelhiem Incident.

"Oh fuck," swore Reno out loud.

The biggest blip in ShinRa history. Reno hastily placed the lid back on the box, not sealing though.

"So this is one thing the package can't be," he said.

"Why," asked Tidus looking between the Turks and Cloud.

"Original documentation has been taken care of," said Reno. "Only back ups remain."

"What do you mean taken care of?" asked Cloud. "Were they destroyed?"

Reno shook his head,

"I mean people weren't the only thing evacuated when Meteor came crashing down," said Reno. "Back up files are another question – the researchers hid them from each other so they could be anywhere in the building. Only the President had access to all the original files – projects were approved by him and he kept all data."

"What is it you think the package is?" asked Cloud.

"I have no idea," said Reno leaning back in his chair.

"Worse case scenario," tried Cloud.

Reno looked at Rude.

"He did it once before," said Rude.

"Artificialwafcallin Meteor," said Reno quickly with his hand covering his mouth.

"What!" demanded Cloud almost standing.

Reno cleared his throat and said,

"An artificial way of recalling Meteor."

"You knew there was such a possibility and you said nothing?" asked Cloud angrily.

"I've only known for the last few days, okay," justified Reno. "Like I said earlier, my job is not to keep track of that goes on in the labs."

"But you still said nothing," pointed out Cloud.

"It's classified information – need to know basis," retorted Reno.

"And you think I don't need to know?" asked Cloud.

"You don't work for ShinRa," said Reno. "In fact, you tried to destroy ShinRa not so long ago."

There was an uneasy silence for a few minutes before Reno said,

"But in light of recent events I'm telling you now. I had hoped to have the package by now."

"What happens if it isn't _that_?" asked Cloud.

"We keep looking," said Reno simply.

A heavy stillness fell between the two before Reno's phone suddenly rang.

"Tseng," said Reno by way of greeting after looking at the screen. "ShinRa building with Rude," he added after a pause.

"Er, yes he is with me," he said looking at Cloud.

"Okay." Reno told Tseng, he nodded and said he would before hanging up.

"Reeves is looking for you," he told Cloud. "He found out that a fiend is attacking the water supply pipes."

"He wants me to get rid of it?" asked Cloud.

Reno nodded as he stood.

"Where are you going?" asked Tidus.

"Got some stuff to do," said Reno collecting the files and putting them back in the box and closing the lid.

"What stuff?" asked Tidus.

"Turk stuff," said Reno.

"What do Turks do?"

Reno grinned,

"Stuff."

Tidus looked to Cloud for help.

"Espionage, assassination, kidnappings, bodyguards," said Cloud, "total devastation."

"Last time it was you wreaking devastation in Midgar with Sephiroth," said Reno.

Both Tidus and Squall looked at Cloud.

"The city was abandoned," said Cloud.

There was a noticeable uneasy silence before Reno moved away from the table and out the door.

"Call Reeve," he threw over his shoulder at Cloud.

It was only after they left that Cloud realised that Reno had taken both containers.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own anything nor do I make any money from this story. All rights apply.

Crossover between FFVII, FFVIII and FFX. I'm going to assume that if you are reading this story you know what the characters look like and have played the games or know the stories. Set days after FFVII AC, forgetting FFVII DC. I have taken some liberties with stories and settings.

**ALL THAT IS LOST**

FIVE

Reeve accepted Cloud's explanation of Squall and Tidus without issue. However, had he not been preoccupied with the current situation, he may have taken a closer look and been more suspicious.

"We finally have a description of who or rather what is destroying the waterways," said Reeve handing Cloud a drawn picture.

Tidus leaned over Cloud's shoulder to look. The fiend was about the size of a chocobo with its body making up most of it; it had a smallish head with massive front arms that ended in sharp claws. The whole thing was coloured red.

"I would have dismissed it if I hadn't already spoken to Vincent earlier today," said Reeve.

"Who drew this?" asked Cloud.

"One of the WRO members by the name of Dione," answered Reeve.

"Where is he?" asked Cloud.

"He didn't clock in today," said Reeve.

"What does he look like?" asked Tidus.

"Hmm," signed Reeve as he thought. "Short blond, blue eyes; about your height."

"How long has he been working for the WRO?" asked Cloud suddenly.

"Not long," said Reeve. "About four months."

"Was he in charge of anything?" asked Cloud.

"Logistics," said Reeve. "Organising the supply lines within Edge."

"Did he have an interest in ShinRa?"

Reeve studied Cloud for a second.

"Do you think he has something to do with what the Turks are looking for?" he asked.

"Do you know what they are looking for?" interrupted Tidus.

"The Turks were here?" asked Cloud.

"Yes, they were and I know whatever they are looking for belongs to ShinRa and that Reno believes it's tied to the waterways attacks," said Reeve answering both questions.

"If it was the same man, why would draw attention to himself by giving you a picture of the fiend?" asked Squall surprising everyone.

"Might just be coincidence," said Tidus.

"Have you tried calling him?" asked Cloud.

"Doesn't own a phone or rather didn't give me a number," said Reeve. "No address either; he was staying at the WRO employee lodges."

Having come to a dead end, Cloud turned his attention back to the picture of the fiend. Was Dione controlling the fiend that had been destroying the waterway or had he been taking advantage of a developing situation? If it was even Dione to begin with. Seeing that Cloud's attention was back on the fiend Reeve said,

"I've got teams patrolling the waterways, they will radio in if they see anything."

"So we are going to wait for them to radio in?" asked Tidus.

Reeve nodded.

"There hasn't been an attack for almost two days so there should be one soon. So far the cycle has been an attack every third day," he said.

"Is there only one of them?" asked Tidus.

"Up until today, we thought it might have been a resistance group or anti-ShinRa movement. I have no idea but based on what Vincent told me, I think there is only one," said Reeve.

In the pause, they all heard the distant thumping of a helicopter. The ShinRa logo soon visible on the side. They waited while the helicopter landed and Reno and Rude stepped out and make their way over to them.

"Does someone called Dione work for the WRO?" asked Reno after greetings were exchanged.

XXX

Cloud sat waiting for a radio in that might or might not happen after Reeve had taken Reno and Rude to the WRO employee lodges. Tidus had found a ball somewhere and was bouncing it from knee to knee while Squall sat close by glaring into the distance. It looked to Cloud like he was thinking about something he would rather not be thinking about. All activity stopped when there was a distant roar shortly followed by the cracking of the radio. Cloud quickly got to his feet and headed for the sound shortly followed by Tidus and Squall.

The fiend was as it had been drawn only the red was a light fur covering. The front arms were heavily muscled and currently digging frantically at the ground among the repair scaffolding, its tongue lolling out the side of its mouth – it was thirsty. The reason for the waterway attacks were that the fiend was looking for water, it explained why no other buildings had been attacked.

"Are we trying to drive it off or kill it?" asked Tidus.

"Kill it," said Cloud pulling free his sword and running forward.

While Tidus and Cloud ran forward, Squall fired a few shots at the fiend causing it to stop digging and turn toward them. It reared back and used its arms to fend off the sword attacks. Cloud stood right in the fiend's face forcing its attention on himself while Tidus darted in and out with quick blows. Squall was not longer randomly firing but waiting for moments when the others were out the way.

Suddenly the fiend grabbed Cloud's sword in its claw; the blade dug in deep but the fiend didn't seem to notice. It roared loudly and bunched the muscles in its back followed by its arms. The muscles strained against skin as the fur across the back stood on end and seemed to waver slightly. It shook Cloud violently causing him to lose his grip and go rolling across the ground before throwing the sword aside. It roared again only louder and stood braced; waiting for the three of them.

"Did – did it just get bigger?" asked Tidus.

Cloud nodded as he got to his feet and dusted the dirt off him as he stared at the fiend. It wasn't quite double its original size but fairly close.

"Looks like the fur is about to ignite," observed Squall.

"If that thing becomes a fireball-" Tidus stopped as a thought suddenly occurred. They all had the same idea for as one they looked down at the semi-exposed water way.

Tidus jumped forward and attacked the waterway sending a spray of water high into the air. The water not only soaked the fiend but everything around it, turning the ground to mud. But it did flatten the fiend's fur and cause it to relax a bit; diminishing its size in the process. The fiend seemed confused by its suddenly lack of rage and Cloud used the momentary distraction to go for his sword while Tidus turned back to the fiend. Squall aimed for the fiend's head and fired but hit its neck instead as it tried to enlarge itself again. But it fur was too wet so it opted to run, heading for the buildings.

"Hey," yelled Tidus and started after it.

"Wait," yelled Cloud.

But the fiend didn't go far; it sprang for the scaffolding and laboriously made its way up.

"Don't let it get inside," shouted Cloud. He didn't know if anyone was inside or not but wasn't going to risk injury to others.

Tidus nodded and headed up after it while Squall reloaded. Cloud ran across a rapidly forming pool of water to his sword lay before going after the fiend. Tidus' progress wasn't much faster than the fiends as he make his way up the scaffold, his sword was consistently in the way.

"Squall," he called.

Squall looked up in time to side step the falling sword.

"Throw it back when I call, okay," finished Tidus as he set after the fiend in earnest.

Squall said nothing as he finished reloaded and aimed for the fiend. Too like Zell.

Cloud slipped his sword into the holster across his back and climbed up after Tidus, he passed both Tidus and the fiend before getting onto one of the many platforms. He pulled his sword free again and swung downward in hopes of making the fiend fall back to the ground below and fall it did but not all the way. Tidus scrambled onto the platform where the fiend landed and called for Squall to pass his sword which Squall deftly threw up to him. Tidus caught the sword and continued its arc downward, catching the fiend across the arm. It reared back in pain and tried to rage again but Tidus continued his attack relentlessly causing the fiend to defend, preventing other actions. The attack was tiring but all Tidus needed to do was keep it occupied until Cloud climbed back down. The fiend tried grabbing Tidus' sword but he moved it out the way in time but left an opening in which the fiend sent him flying off the scaffolding and into the pool of water below.

Tidus landed with a huge splash and sunk deeply into the cool blue that surrounded him, soothing his aches. He shook himself from his drifting and set off for the surface, forgetting what he had been doing – he was going to the beach that waited for him.

Both Cloud and Squall saw Tidus fall into the shallow pool with a splash from deep water. Squall ran over to where he had landed but the water lapped around his ankles. He searched the water for a moment before looking up at Cloud but confusion would have to wait as the fiend roared again and scrambled into the building. Cloud swore and jumped down; he and Squall ran for the main entrance but before going in Squall looked back but the water was still and Tidus was not there anymore. He frowned slightly, if Tidus had returned why had he not? A crash from above caused him to turn his attention back to the fiend. He would deal with it later.

After some time searching Cloud and Squall left the building – it was in the process of being built so luckily unoccupied but there were several places the fiend could have escaped. Cloud checked out the pool of water again while Squall glared out into the distance, the same expression as before. There was no sign of either Tidus or the fiend. Cloud momentarily considered that the fiend had left in Squall's place but soon found fresh tracks leading away. He knew it would come back but how soon? Cloud was a little relieved that Tidus had returned as he had more pressing concerns – like finding Dione. If the Turks were looking for him, he was involved somehow. The helicopter was gone by the time he and Squall made it back.

XXX

"Did you get it?" asked Reeve.

"No," answered Cloud with a shake of his head.

Reeve looked behind them,

"Where is the other one – don't tell me…"

"He had to leave," said Cloud smoothly.

Reeve nodded.

"I'm glad – it would have been terrible if he had died while lending a hand," said Reeve looking relieved.

"Where did the Turks go?" asked Squall.

"I don't know but they, well, Reno looked very annoyed," said Reeve. "I think they found whatever they were looking for."

"What makes you say that?" asked Cloud intently.

"Or maybe not," corrected Reeve on seeing Cloud's expression. "While he looked annoyed, it was more the annoyance of still having work to do but being successful at the same time so I assumed they had found what they wanted."

"Did Reno say anything?" asked Cloud.

"No," said Reeve.

Cloud opened his phone and dialled. It didn't take Reno long to answer.

_Cloud._

"Where are you?" asked Cloud.

_In the chopper._

"What do you know? Where are you going?" pressed Cloud, his frown deepening.

_Oh, to some airspace about ten meters in front of our current position._

"Which is where, Reno."

_A distant relative of yours._

Cloud was quiet for a second. From the conversation so far, he knew Reno knew something but he was not making any sense.

_A__cloud!_Reno laughed merrily for a moment before complaining about the nonexistent reception problem and cutting off the call.

"What did he say?" asked Reeve.

"Nothing of worth," said Cloud darkly.

XXX

Cloud and Squall were almost at Seventh Heaven bar when a familiar roared sounded to the left.

"That fiend," snapped Cloud.

From the direction of the sound it was attacking the temporary water tank set up on the edge of the main cross roads. Reeve had set it up for when the water was off, people could collect water without too much difficulty. But now the fiend appeared to be attacking it, it hadn't got water earlier but this time there would be people caught in the cross fire.

"Come on," yelled Cloud as he started for Seventh Heaven as a run.

Squall was about to point out that they were heading in almost the complete opposite direction but Cloud ran with purpose so he followed.

"You keep its attention on us and I'll drive," said Cloud as he climbed onto his bike a few minutes later; it had been parked outside Seventh Heaven. "We'll lead it out of Edge and deal with it on the plains."

Squall nodded and checked his gun before climbing on behind Cloud. Cloud took off with such speed that Squall almost lost his grip but managed to hang on as they weaved through the streets of Edge. They found the fiend with its head in the broken water tank, water sloshed over the sides and run across the street. There were hardly any people about and those who were appeared to want to stop the fiend but didn't know how. Cloud brought the bike alongside the fiend and Squall fired; it lifted its head after the second shot and lunged for them. But Cloud had been waiting and was faster. Every time it appeared that the fiend was distracted Squall would fire; aiming for its forelegs and shoulders. Unfortunately, apart from following them, it started to grow again and with it greater size came greater strength and speed.

"Faster," yelled Squall.

Cloud glanced in his rear view mirror and altered cause to the fastest route out Edge but even with all the twists and turns, it managed to keep up and gain on them all the while its fur rippled and sparked. As they left Edge, the fiend put extra effort into a jump that would land in front of them but Cloud turned in time and the fiend landed meters from them, exploding into a huge fire ball that sent out waves of heat and flame.

The explosion caused the bike to swerve badly and Cloud lost control, sending them flying. Cloud landed heavily and rolled across the ground to a stop. He lay for a few minute trying to catch his breath as the dust settled. Looking around he couldn't at first see Squall but noticed that there was no serious damage on his bike; scratches and the like. He shifting into a sitting position and looked around again but still couldn't see Squall; standing and turning circles revealed nothing.

"Squall!" yelled Cloud.

But Squall was nowhere to be seen.

Squall looked at the vast nothing that spread out from the edge of – what? The hours he had been walking were not show on the small bit of rock he stood on, his shoulder hurt but he couldn't remember why but he had a feeling it was from a fall; a crash to be exact but he wasn't thinking about that now. He was thinking about… being lost.

Cloud dusted himself off as best he could as he made his way to his bike and set it upright. He was grateful for the help of Tidus and Squall but was relieved that they had returned to where they came from. Or he hoped they had. But even as he thought that, he still looked back before he made his way to Edge.

XXX

"Levin was in Edge on unrelated business and when Dione, pretending to be Cloud, picked up the package and disappeared with it, his job was to find it. But not being a regular and having a loose tongue when drunk didn't help his cause so he blamed Cloud; referring to him as the weather. But Nigiri didn't know Strife Delivery and Cloud Strife were the same person," said Vincent.

"Nigiri got that when he kidnapped Squall," put in Reno. "But I rescued him."

"So then Nigiri sent out Feint and his partner?" asked Tifa and Vincent nodded.

"Where is Levin now?" asked Tifa.

"Disposed of," said Vincent.

"You killed him?" asked Tifa surprised.

"No," said Vincent truthfully.

Tifa glanced at the Turks but neither volunteered anything.

"You know for sure that it was Dione?" asked Tifa.

Vincent nodded and pulled free a photograph of a young man about Cloud's age. With some effort he could have passed for Cloud.

"Nigiri's contact confirmed that this was the guy who picked up the package," said Reno. "Dione is just as keen as Nigiri for goods from ShinRa. Some other scavengers ventured into the old ShinRa building, found the box and released the fiends. They in turn sold the package to Nigiri's contact, who contacted Nigiri. Dione happened to overhear a conversation and offer his services as a 'delivery boy' but kept the package himself."

"So he gave Cloud's name knowing Nigiri would go after him. Who is Nigiri's contact?" asked Tifa.

"I'll point him out next time I see him," said Reno as he finished his drink.

Just then the door to the bar open and Cloud staggered in. He was filthy and covered in bruises and scratches. For a second they all stared at him before Tifa jumped up.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Cloud nodded and made his way over to the table and sunk down onto Tifa's vacant chair.

"Where the hell have you been?" demanded Reno, "I've been trying to phone you."

"I-" Cloud coughed and took a long pull from the nearest, Rude's, drink and started again.

"I was fighting a fiend and crashed my bike," said Cloud as he tossed his busted phone onto the table.

"You crashed your bike? I've seen you ride and do crazy stuff – how did you crash?" asked Reno.

"The fiend exploded," said Cloud nodding his thanks as Tifa put a drink down in front of him.

"Exploded?" asked Reno. "Like a bomb?"

Cloud nodded. His body was aching from when he landed and would have like nothing better than to shower and sleep.

"Hey," said Reno suddenly sitting up. "Where are those two that were following you around?"

"They er, left," said Cloud quickly picking up his drink.

"Left – you make it sound like they sent to some alternate dimension," said Reno causing Cloud to choke and mess everywhere. "Gross, man. What would your mother say?"

There was an awkward moment where some thought about alternate dimension and other about Nibleheim.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Cloud.

"Huh?" said Reno.

"You were trying to call me," prompted Cloud.

"Yes," said Reno and quickly filled Cloud in on what had been happening.

"So where is Dione?" asked Cloud.

Reno shrugged.

"He left Edge and spent some time in Midgar before buying tickets to Costa De Sol, Wutai, Gongaga and Gold Saucer," said Reno. "And someone matching his description boarded for each destination."

"So you are going to give up?" asked Tifa.

"Give up?" Reno blinked as if he didn't understand the words. "He has stuff that _belongs_ to ShinRa so no, we are not giving up."

"I know of some places where to look," said Vincent.

Reno nodded but said nothing. Cloud got the distinct impression that, once again, Reno was holding back information.

"Is that where it ends?" asked Cloud.

"That's where your involvement ends," corrected Reno standing, Rude following suit.

"Don't worry," said Reno patting Cloud's head, "I'll let you know how it turns out in the end. Maybe."

"You know where the door is," muttered Cloud swatting away Reno's hand.

"Yes, I do," said Reno and headed toward it.

END


End file.
